Explanatory note

This Order amends article 3(2) of the Value Added Tax (Small Non-Commercial Consignments) Relief Order 1986 (S.I. 1986/939). That Order provides for relief from VAT in certain circumstances for small non-commercial consignments of goods imported into the UK from a place outside of the European Union, and article 3(2) of that Order specifies the maximum value of goods in a “small consignment”. Article 3 of this Order increases that maximum value from £34 to £39.

This amendment is made in order to comply with Council Directive 2006/79/EC (OJ No L 286, 17.10.2006), which specifies that a small non-commercial consignment is a consignment whose value does not exceed €45. Member States whose national currency is not the euro are required by the Directive to determine the equivalent amount in their national currency annually by reference to an exchange rate obtained on the first working day of October and then specify that amount for the purposes of their national legislation with effect from 1st January of the following year. On 1st October 2016 the sterling equivalent of €45 was £39.

A Tax Information and Impact Note has not been prepared for this Instrument as it contains no substantive changes to tax policy.